and then, you just speak without fear. from new york, good night, america. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute ---www.ncicap.org--- bret: next on "special report" politics without the filter, the president holds a town healthcare event, and pakistan's nuclear program is targeted by extremists. we'll find out what american officials are saying about that. we now know what the government warning about right wing extremists was based on. you may be surprised, and you won't be getting taken for a ride by lawmakers seeking first chas transportation at your imens, at least not this time all that plus the all-stars right here, right now. welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. in engaging with the public over healthcare has been a

contact sport for members of congress so far this month. today, president obama stepped up to the microphone in new hampshire. senior white house correspondent major garrett has the story. >> they have lined the streets for president obama. >> no government health healthcare! >> both supporters and opponents of national healthcare. >> this is debt! the bill is 1,000 pages. these people haven't even read it. if you read it, you would realize it is pure evil. >> i'm here because i believe in basic human rights and i think that obama has the right idea here and i'm tired of people that don't believe in giving everyone the opportunity to survive. there is no, hike, thing out there for euthanasia or death panels. >> new englanders brought town halls to american democracy today sounded on their interpretation of the facts. mr. obama waded into the

conflict, painfully aware his healthcare push divides now more than it unites. >> that's what america is about. we have a vigorous debate. >> as the president took the stage in portsmouth, new hampshire, new polls suggested the country is turning against him. a rasmussen survey shows 53% oppose the health plan while 42% support t a gallop survey shows 36% want lawmaker0s oppose healthcare reform and 35% want lawmakers to support it and 29% say they don't care. in the first town hall since summer sessions become flashpoints, the president played defense. >> this is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. we're not talking about cutting medicare benefits. i'm not promoting a single payer plan. i won't sign a bill that adds to the deficit or the national debt. >> mr. obama also denied the house bill awaiting noor action would give the government any voice in end-of-life decisions. >> somehow it has gotten spun into this idea of death panels

i am not in favor of that. >> he also denied the white house is clicting names of healthcare reform opponents. >> this is being portrayed as obama collecting an enemies' list. i just want to be clear that all i want to do is answer questions. >> the crowd appeared largely supportive. nier the end -- near the end, mr. obama searched for skeptics. >> i don't want people thinking i just had a bunch of plants in here. >> speaking of plants, he put something in his speech that was a bit of a weed. he attributeed something in the house on end-of-life to johnny isaacson, a senator. a moment ago the senator denounced his remarks saying "the white house is trying to deflect attention from negative ti by their policies. i never consulted with the white house and never had any role in the house democrats' bill. i categorically oppose the

house bill. " brit, back to you. bret: ok, major, thanks. the reception for pennsylvania senator arlen specter inside his town hall today was not nearly as cordial. correspondent david lee miller has that story from lebanon, pennsylvania. >> they waited for hours to attend arlen specter's town hall meeting on healthcare reform, but the majority of the people that made it into the meeting hall, only 30 were chosen to ask questions. this man was angry he had not been selected. an exasperated senator specter tried to keep the peace. >> if you want to be led out of here, you're welcome to go. now, wait a minute! wait a minute! now, wait a minute! wait a minute! wait a minute! he has a right to leave!

>> before he did, he got in the last word. >> i have news for you, you and your cronies in the government do this kind of stuff all the time! >> speaker after speaker confronted the senator. some criticizing his recent switch to the democratic party. many, like this one, who said she runs a family business, warned the issue was bigger than partisan politics. >> it's not about left and right. this is about the systematic dismantling of this country. i'm only 35 years old. i have never been interested in politics. su awakened sleeping giants a you for this woman who, said her son is in medical school, the problem with healthcare reform is the price. you say president obama will not allow a higher deficit but the cost is $800 trillion, and who is going to pay for this bill? >> one day after democrats were accused of unamerican behavior, many town hall participants went out of their way to show they had done

their homework. >> i want to tell you, senator, that i have spent two weeks on my own trying to read that bill, and trying to understand it. it is like a russian novel. >> besides a barrage of criticism, specter remained in control of the meetings, but at times was on the roof. >> i'm not calling you a rabble rouser. what have i learned from today's meeting? well, that today is a very well informed part of our citizenry. >> senator specter says he isn't sure if this morning's town hall meeting changed any minds, but this afternoon, he was at it again, in time in lewisburg at the campus of buck nell university and this time, the crowd more subdued. bret: david miller live in lebanon, thank you. healthy school lunches are the

aim behind posters at union station that the white house calls a publicity stunt. an 8-year-old girl says president obama's daughters get healthy school lunches, why don't i? the ad. the ads are sponsored by the physician's committee for responsible medicine which is pushing for vegetarian non-dairy options. the group's president says that white house lawyers, unhappy with the ev frence to the president's children asked them to take them down but a first amendment lawyer told the group's lawyer that he had no obligation to do so and the group plans to keep the ads up through the end of august. >> we are learning more about the role high-level bush administration figures may have played in the dismissals of several federal prosecutors in late 2006. white house correspondent wendell goler joins us live with details. good evening, wendell. >> good evening, bret. house judiciary committee chairman john conyers released 5,400 pages of e-mails and other documents he says show the white house under former president george w. bush was,

quote, the driving force behind the removal of a number of u.s. attorneys. the ranking republican on that committee, lamar smith of texas disagrees. he says there is no credible evidence of wrongdoing in the documents. he has accused the obama administration of politicizing the justice department, for dropping the charges against several black panthers accused of voter intimidation in philadelphia this past november. former u.s. attorney david iglesias figures most prominently in the bush administration documents. he was strongly criticized by new new mexico republicans for not prosecuting alleged voter fraud in 2004 that they felt might have hurt a republican candidate. iglesias told the congressional committee his firing was a political flogging. iglesias said the decision had been made after aides to the former presidential cowfn sill karl rove who, is now a fox news contributor pressed to remove him immediately. now, rove also passed along

the new mexico republican's complaints but said hes was just doing his job. >> absolutely. i had a responsibility to take allegations of a misuse of the office by a united states attorney and put them in the hands of the appropriate peel so that those allegations could be reviewed. the charge was that the u.s. attorney in new mexico was treating an indictment in a completely political fashion. >> still, the documents show how the white house struggled to counter-complaints that these highly rated u.s. attorneys were being removed for political reasons. in one of the e-mails, the former press secretary, are dana perino, who was deputy press secretary at the time, said someone give me a double shot of oxygen, as she tried to build a case for removing the u.s. attorney who prosecuted former california congressman duke cunningham for corruption. remember, however, these u.s. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. bret. bret: wendell, thank you. productivity surged by 6.4% in the second quarter. the biggest gain in almost six

years. while labor costs plunged by 5.8%, the fastest fall in 9 years. home sale inventories declined 1.7% in june, while sales rose by 4/10's of a percentage point. stocks were down again today. the dow lost 96 1/2 and the s&p 500 fell 12 and nasdaq fell 22 1/2. we will get rush limbaugh's take on the town hall meetings, and on the comments from the panel monday night. that's later, and is pakistan's nuclear arsenal really safe? some disdisturbing news we are just learning about when we come back.

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♪ viva now's the time to get moving... ♪ viagra! and ask your doctor viagra is right for you. bret: one of the reasons pakistan is vital to american interests is its membership in the nuclear weapons fraternity. now there is words that extremists have staged operations against some elements of pakistan's nuclear program. correspondent courtney kealy

has the story from the pentagon. good evening, courtney. >> hi, bret. a u.s. senior official has confirmed that over the past two years militants have attacked pakistani nuclear facilities on three separate occasions. in a report published by the combating terrorism center at west point, professor sean gregory details the attacks including a bombing at a marriott believed to be one of pakistan's main nuclear weapons assembly sites ax pakistani official in washington played down the report, quote, pakistan's nuclear facilities are safe. there is no likely hood of terrorist activity at those sites this is reported out of context and the incidents have no link to our facilities, but news video of explosions in three different places matches locations an dates in gregory's article. although the news reports at the time make no link to nuclear sites. an explosion near a site identified by u.s. officials as a nuclear missile storage facility on november 1, 2007, killed six and wounded dozens.

one month later, a car bomber blew himself up at pakistan's nuclear air base. the third and perhaps most significant attack took place last august, pakistani taliban bombers blew themselves up killing 46 people at entry points of the wah military complex, believed to be the largest producer of nuclear material in pakistan. senior leaders in the u.s. leader maintain their confidence in pakistan's security abilities. >> they are comfortable with the security measures, pakistani government, pakistani military have in place to ensure that their nuclear arsenal is safeguarded >> bret, the senior official we spoke to says it remains unclear whether the militants knew exactly what they were targeting and it would take a lot more for them to take control of pakistan's nuclear arsenal. bret. bret: courtney kealy live at the pentagon. thank you. what is believed to be a u.s. missile slammed into a suspected taliban camp in pakistan today in the same

area of lawless south part of the country where a top taliban killer was killed last week. between six and 14 people were killed in today's attacks. intelligence officials say they with with all militants but a taliban spokesman said the missile hit a home and killed civilians. the u.s. military is confirming that an al qaeda plot to attack an american base in kuwait has been foiled. kuwait initially announced that its personal had stopped the mans and arrested six kuwaiti nationals. officials say the group was planning to attack state security offices in other government buildings. in iraq, forces are settling into a did different routine now that come combat troops have withdrawn from the sit tizz. david piper shows us what these changing times are like in u.s. >> for years, u.s. forces have been on the offensive. now with the june 30th agreement in place, they are

out of the towns and cities in this country and many soldiers spend their time back at the bases. it is their job to protect the 12,000 people coordinating refurbishing iraq. >> it doesn't mean we're done. it doesn't mean somebody could cox in with a bottle of money and extra trained people and cause something to happen. it's not sustainable. >> outside the base, it can still be dangerous. further along this road to the nearby city of nazarea, christopher hill and his staff recently survived a roadside bomb attack on their convoy. faces here in south iraq are on high alert and haven't dropped their guard. it is the nerve center for protecting the facility and has the ability to see far beyond the perimeter wire. if something suspicious is

happening, it can call an unmanned predators overhead or sent out a patrol. >> the biggest thing is never knowing what is coming. this is still a threat here in iraq. it is kind of stressful without knowing what is going on outside but whatever comes our way, we're ready to take it on. >> the u.s. military doesn't have freedom of action. it can't, for instance, use artillery to respond to a mortar attack in open areas. that is balanced out now from the help from the iraqi military and also the ties made with the local community. the high-tech surge of the day workers is crucial for security and the jobs that iraqis have at the base brings a lot of goodwill. >> the local people that come in on a daily basis are here every day 7 days a week and we build a nice relationship with them. a lot of them can be trusted. >> it is this new trust between the u.s. military and

iraqis which is the biggest factor in keeping the american bases safe. in southeast iraq, david piper, fox news. >> an entire country with a drinking problem? we'll tell you where it is and the trouble it's causing, and the government report warning about trouble from right wing extremists. guess where they got their information? is what i need

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i better get out of here. hooey. bret: we have an update on the homeland security warning on right wing extremeism, a document that caused a fuss this spring, shannon bream has shocking news on how the department came to its conclusion. >> it was a report that sparked outrage and questions. exactly what was behind the department of homeland security's threat assessment on right wing extremism,

especially that infamous footnote focusing on, quote, groups and individuals that are dedicated to a singlish smiew, such as opposition to abortion or immigration. the report also warned that disgruntled military personnel could be targeted to join with extremist groups looking to exploit their training and combat skills. after its release, the group americans for limited government filed a foya act to request the supporting evidence for the assessment. >> we expected to receive back some hard-core analysis, some data analysis, looking at kime statistics and current trend that, you know, would back up the conclusions in the report, and instead, what we got was a list of url's to various websites, all kinds of news stories across the board. >> alg says the web links are nothing more than an afternoon of surfing the web oossments what you a good intelligence

report would do is take that intelligence information and marry it to other things. this is a wide variety of statistical date data in the government, so you could look at criminal data, arrest data, and also look at classified material and investigations. >> but based on the dhs response to the information requests so far, it doesn't hook like that deeper analysis ever happened. the assessment was launched under the bush administration and completed by a career service employee within the department, not a political appointee of mr. bush or president obama. not long after the reports released, janet napolitano apologized for any unintended offense. >> i'm not running away from it. this was an an assessment, not an accusation. >> d.h.s. issued a threat assessment on so-called left wing extremist groups earlier this year, but in that report, the agency made cheer it relied on tell intelligence reporting from groft agencies an highly reliable

field agents. bret: the justice department today gave back $2.4 million to mexico, money seized during an investigation into oil smuggled out of that country and purchased here in the u.s. mexican president felipe calderon says drug cartels have branched out and are behind much of the oil theft. oil legally traded today felled by more than $1 a barrel, september crude lost $1.15 on the new york mercantile exchange settling in at $64.45 a barrel. gasoline dropped 2/10's of a penny, averaging $2.64 a gallon. so is the obama administration preparing to give away some of your privacy rights? we report. you decide. [ bottle #1 ] oh hey, hey...

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bret: and now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. the obama administration is reportedly considering allowing government agencies to track people who log on to their internet sites. "the washington post" reports the proposal by the office of management and budget would scale back a long-standing ban on the use of so-called cookies and other technologies to collect user data. some privacy groups are already expressing alarm. the american civil liberties union says the plan would, quote, allow the mass collection of personal information of every user of a federal government website. the post report says that the government could be seeking the changes at the request of private companies such as

google. the legal director of one on-line rights group says, quote, it appears that these companies are forcing the government to lower the privacy protections that the government had promised the american people, but the budget office spokesman says the administration is committed to protecting user privacy. we will be following this story. the transportation department's inspector general said the administration used economic stimulus funds to pay for 50 airport projects that allegedly failed to meet gantt criteria. calvin schovel says that includes 14 million given to a rural alaska town to replace an airfield although the town has a sea plane and it is located 14 miles from the state's fourth busiest airport. $15 million was awarded to a second alaskan town with 167 residents to replace its airport's gavel runway, and millions were given to airports in washington, missouri an delaware, although they provide limited service and no commercial flights.

schovel cited four grants to airports with a history of mismanaging government money but the trance pore transportation's department's deputy secretary vase his description is an overstatement and that the projects were necessary. and the wife of michigan democratic congressman john conyers is under investigation, again. media reports say monica conyers who resigned from detroit's city council last month after pleading guilty to a federal corruptions charge is facing questions about the disappearance $21,000 worth of city equipment. the right 'ems vanished from her office and include laptops an printers. the city council president says he has referred the case to the detroit police after conyers and her lawyer failed to cooperate. conyers' lawyer says his client has done nothing wrong, quote, if this is a criminal case, then i'm a chinese aviator. conyers is awaiting senatorring on her federal corruption charge and faces up to five years in prison. speaking of politicians and

money, a plan by some in congress to nigh first class on the taxpayers' dime has been grounded. national correspondent steve centanni explains. >> they have become a new folk cal point in the outkai over expensive perks for public figures, a fleet of jets owned by the government and used by members of congress and administration officials to travel across the country or around the world. in this year's budget, the pentagon asked for four new ones to augment its existing fleet of 24. the house quietly added four more, a total of eight, with a price tag of $550 million. that didn't sit well with critics of government spending, including some democrats. >> i'm embarrassed and disgust ed at the idea that they would add money for private jets right now to the budget, and i will do everything i can to block that funding. >> under such withering fire,

the house has backed down. john mur, that chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee issued a statement defending his support of the extra planes. he explained these aircraft will not increase the overall passenger aircraft fleet, but instead will replace older aircraft that have both safety and maintenance issues. in addition, he says, these newer model aircraft cost cig nif scantily -- significantly less than the older ones to fly, flying a c-37 comparable to the gulf stream 5, is $2,6000 an hour, half the cost of operating the older version, the c-2o even so, he sees the political writing on the wall and concludes if the department many of defense does not want these aircraft, they will be eliminated from the bill. the pentagon, which is onboard with the president's budget for the aircraft, has already said no, it doesn't want the additional planes. it said so again today. >> i think we have been very clear on. this we have asked for what we

needed and nothing more. we want nothing more than what we have asked for. >> with the house in full retreat and the public well aware of the spending options, chances are splim the extra planes will be approved by the senate, slimmer still they will ever join the air force fleet. steve centanni, fox news. bret: a new opinion poll, 1,50 onrush shans indicate there are serious measured needed to deal with alcohol abuse. 63% support a ban on selling booze to people under 21. 57% favor the elimination of alcohol advertising and 34% want tougher laws against public drinking and drunkenness. dana lewis reports on the deadly e fectsds of are rush shoo's drinking problem. >> russian men out for a mid mourning breakfast moscow style, vodka and cigarettes. new statistics from russian health organizations say most won't make it to their 60th birthday. on average, russian males will die 15 years before their american counterparts. russian women live 13 years

less than american women. o a million russians die each year from alcohol and tobacco, mostly alcohol. the average adult consumes 50 bottles of vodka annually. >> this is what is going on in this country and it is crippling the future of the country. >> russia's total population is shrinking, now 141 million, down 12 million in 16 years. studies say half of all deaths in the '90's ask because of alcohol and cigarettes, the source of all cardiovascular disease. you can buy a pack of cigarettes for 30 cents, a bottle of beer for less than a dollar. it costs more to buy a bottle of water. health officials accuse the government here of keeping taxes low to an es anesthetize the population. >> it is social anesthesia, an an al analgesia something like that that calls this. >> russia's health minister

says no to new taxes because during tough economic times it is a sensitive decision. we should consider social implications. translation, the kremlin fears social unrest if it raises taxes. what is the government doing? a new ad campaign on t.v. shows pickled people and says take care of yourself. 90% of russians drink alcohol. unlike russia's first president, boris yeltsin who more than once appeared drunk in public, prime minister putin has shown up this summer in say case videos riding, swimming and showing lots of skin, healthy looking at least, but it is ironic say his critics that he also refuses to increase taxes to discourage smoking and drinking. putin is never seen drinking or smoking in public, but, unfortunately, his health kick has yet to infect the rest of russia. in moscow, dana lewis, fox news. >> the sister of president john kennedy has died. eunice kennedy shriver passed

away early today. she suffered a series of strokes in recent years. the 88-year-old shriver was surrounded by her family in her final hours. besides being the sister of john, robert and ted kennedy, she was married to 1972 democratic vice presidential candidate sergeant shriver and was the founder of the special olympics and championed the rights of the mentally disabled. >> the president didn't have any problems but lawmakers continue to get blowback over healthcare at those town hall meetings and rush limbaugh weighs in about the fox all-stars, next. ♪ (announcer) introducing new tums dual action. this tums goes to work in seconds and lasts for hours.

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( train whistle blowing ) ( growing faster, louder, more horrifying ) ( screaming ) ( loud game whistle blows ) announcer: stop. time out. there is no more money. they spent it all. wasted on bailouts and pork. now they want trillions for healthcare? let's take a breath. fix our economy first. - but they just won't stop. - ( sound of printing press starting back up ) well, together we can make them stop. join millions signing our demand letter at trustcommonsense.com. sign today, before it's really too late. national republican trust pac is responsible for the content of this message. ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either.

so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on. >> we have a vigorous debate. that's why we have a democracy. i hope we will talk with each other and not over each other. >> this is about the systematic dismantling of this country. i am only 35 years old.

i have never been interested in politics. you have awakened a sleeping giant. we are tired of this. bret: two different town halls and two different flavors to them. there you see the latest polling from rasmussen about obama healthcare reform. 53% oppose. 42% favor. whatever the obama plan is, because there are a number of plans out there, let's bring in our panel and talk about this day and the town halls. steve hayes, senior writer for "the weekly standard", mort kondracke, editor of roll call and syndicated column columnist charles krauthammer. the white house says this town hall people were selected randomly, 70% were given tickets randomly and 30% through local officials and other organization, but boy, the feel in new new hampshire in the town hall for the president was different for what we are seeing in the other places in the country. >> look, the president got off to a bad start when he said

i'm here to set the record straight an proceeded to say four or four or five things that are frak actually incorrect or at least in dispute. he said several times that healthcare reform would are deficit neutral. it isn't. the c.b.o. has weighed in on that. it is on the wait house fact check website. bret: at least with the bill so far as writen? >> right. i want "the weekly standard" to double my salary but i can't put that on my loan application. it is not just on the reality right now. his press secretary was talking about conservatives not having any real healthcare plan reform and opposing any healthcare reform. it's nonsense. right as he was saying that, tom price was on another cable network making the case that he wanted this kind of reform, different kinds but the same substantive kind of reform. the white house is having real trouble with the truth right now. >> mort, there was one question from a republican in the audience. he asked about if there is a

public option, whether private insurance companies could hold their own against a government-funded public option. here is what the president said in response. >> i think private insurers should be able to compete. they do it all the time. if you think about it, you know, u.p.s. an fedex are doing just fine. no, they are. the post office is always having problems. bret: the post office is having problems. there you see the graphic, $7 billion loss in 2009. $7 billion projected loss in 2010. to cite a government agency that's losing $14 billion in two years as an example -- >> you would think that the president would take from that fact the idea that the government option is going to be a failure. medicare, the government-run health program for seniors is going broke. it is not reformed and has not

done any of the things even though the government has been running it since 1965, has not done health i.t., has not done, you know, disease management, any of that kind of stuff private insurance companies do. the best kind of solution for this problem would be the swiss system where you have individual mandate, entirely private competition among health insurance companies. it lowers are costs. it gives lots of choice. people get subsidized. there is no pre-existing conditions and all of that kind of stuff, but it is private competition which works t works again and again and is working right now in medicare part d, which he also disparaged. >> and the swiss are all so healthy they all wear shorts so we know that system works. the key event in this town hall is when obama said he did not support a single-payer system, which means a government-run system, and the reason he gave is because of the transition would be disruptive, not because he

opposes it on principle. in fact, we know that before he became a national candidate, he supported a canadian-style system, which is a way of saying he still believes in it, and we heard from high-ranking democrats who have admitted in congress that the public option is the royal road to a government-run system, so it leads to a lot of suspicion, and i think warrants a suspicion that the public option is the camel's nose as a way to get it started on the road inevitably to a government-run system. bret: after the panel last night, we received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails about people upset that mort, you compared them to code pink, causing a stir. charles, you said that it's not good strategy. i mean, tons antons of e-mails, and then this afternoon, rush limbaugh responded to mort who said rush was stirring this up. take a listen to this. >> >> i am not encouraging all of this, and the only uncivility

that has happened occurred after obama dispatched the seiu to places like melville outside st. louis and other places, so these people get it in their template that i'm causing this and that the republicans are going to blow it. let's be polite. let's not make them think that we are what they lie about us being all the time. let's be civil and let's be quiet. that's how we got the stimulus bill. bret: mort. >> i call that disparagement of civility what he was just doing. listen, i quote rush him baw on previous occasions. adolf hitler like was also called the messiah. if al qaeda wants to demolish america as we know and love it, then they better hurry, because obama is beating them to it. bret: was he telling them to

scream and interrupt? >> he regards these people who disrupt are the meetings -- bret: couldn't you just say they are freerful and upset? >> yes, some of them are. why are they fearful? because people like rush limbaugh are telling them that rush limbaugh will rule like the nazis. they are freerful that the government will take over healthcare. >> when rush links me to mort, that is a low blow and i may not recover. there is a distinction. he says let's be civil. let's be quiet. there is a distinction between civil and quiet. i think people ought to be open, vocal, demonstrate, shout and scream outside the hall, inside the hall you are vifl. the reason is a tactical one. you are giving the democrats and the liberals an excuse of distraction that they are using against those who correctly, i think, oppose the

plan. bret: tony in sheyboygan, wisconsin, they need to remove their heads from their posteriors and see what is happening in the real world. we're going to leave it there. >> that is an ugly image. i don't want to contemplate that. bret: people are buzzing about a clip we showed you monday with hillary clinton snapping at a questioner. %%%%%%%%

>> you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. you ask me my opinion and i will tell you my opinion. i won't be channeling my

husband. >> a fighting theme she has on her trip to africa was empowering women. the question was posed in a way that said i want to get the views of two men but not the secretary of state. bret: the clinton camp says the questioner got it wrong and he asked for her reaction to president clinton and meant to say president obama. they say it wasn't the translator. what about this and the secretary's reaction as her husband, the former president is celebrating his birthday in las vegas this week. back with the panel. charles. >> she lost it. it was not a good moment. in part, it was because she thought she was being treated as an appendage of her husband. i think part of it is the venue. here you have richard holbrooke running afghanistan and pakistan, the heart of our troubles in asia. you have george mitchell in the middle east. you have envoys here and there, and she is the

secretary of state and sitting in the congo, in the congo? you have petraeus running afghanistan. you have odierno running iraq. she is totally marginalized. i'm sure it is a great city. in fact, it's not, but the congo, africa are very low on the scale of importance for interests are of the united states. she is supposed to be the president of the united states at this point. she was going to be queen of the world. instead, obama strides the world and gives speeches in the great capitals in cairo and she is in congo. you would be upset, also. look, i would appeal to the jury on this and say i would acquit her on grounds of extreme provocation. she has been march nallized, and that's one reason why her numbers are good. her poll numbers are good, because she hasn't been doing anything. bret: in fact, when you look at the poll numbers, mort, she polls better than president obama does. you see the approval at 59%,

dpee pending on the poll, and the president is around 53%. >> i would put some of it down to probable exhaustion. she has been chasing around africa, 7 countries in 11 days dealing with highly emotional issues like the mass rape of women in congo, horrible civil war and stuff like that going on. here she gets asked a question out of left field about her husband, you know, and she did lose it, and i'm sure that resent the resentment over the fact that lots of males are handling all the big issues of the world and she's out thereinafter ka has something to do with it. >> what a bunch of squishes. we got mail after questioned's segment, rush limbaugh will tee off on these guys both defending hillary clinton. i agree with him. there is a reason she is upset. you can't also forget that this happened in the shadow of his trip to north korea last week, which i think was a

diplomatic disaster, but i think on the surface, at least in the short term, it looks to have been a successful trip. he came back and got lots of congratulations, plaudits in the news media. she is getting all the attention and she is doing what she did at beginning of her senate term, which is keeping her head down and working hard. i agree with charles. she has been marginalized in this administration. she is not a major player. bret: do you think by her reaction that there is still some political thought that down the road that she may run again? >> i think it's the fact that she knows she will never are run again, never succeed in achieving the ultimate objective, and is now, you know, secondary and even less than secondary, which is a source of her irritation. part of it was being upset about the men part, the feminist part. i think it is about her status. look, her husband was on the front pages all over the world. he is now in vegas tonight, and she's in the congo. you would be upset, too.

bret: that's it for the panel. stay tuned for a true behind the scenes look at secretary clinton's trip. . grill: holy moly!!! what just hap...whoa! grill: i mean...wow! hey! that looks great. grill: and there's no need to discuss it further. in fact, you can buff most of that out. just give it a once-over with a wet paper towel...hee, hee grill: ok, gootalking to u... anncr: accidents are bad. anncr: but geico's good. ding! with 24-hour claims service.

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bret: we just showed you how secretary clinton got a little hot about that question, but according to our friends at nbc, this trip has really been the time of her life. >> she thought it would be just another summer vacation. but it turns out to be the time of her life. >> ♪ i had the time of my life i never felt this way before ♪ >> "dirty dancing 3: african nights."